Tin-pack handling mechanism



Sept. 22, 1931. J. w. PERRY TIN PACK HANDLING MECHANISM Filed Aug. 9,1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 I lnvcnlor (To/222167 2 2 2 M A llomeu Sept. 22,1931. J. w. PERRY 1,824,228

TIN PACK HANDLING MECHANISM Filed Aug. 9, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Allorney J. w. PERRY 1,824,228

TIN PACK HANDLING MECHANISM Filed Aug. 9, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 m. m M NN %RR W \N /W////// p 9 Q; .N R. a. \N W\ W 2 J M 3 0 \w F J Q\ my k MhRM k O 0 O0 O0 O0 00 0 00 O O 900 0O O0 O0 0O O0 00 O \h; N\. N I, f v hH n o oo oo oo oo oo o o oo oo J MY Sept. 22, 1931.

Q By A llorney Patented Sept. 22, 1931 JOHN PERRY, F WHEELING, WESTVIRGINIA TIN-PACK HANDLING- MECHANISM A mama filed August 9, mo. SerialNo. 474,200.

This invention relates broadly to mechanisms for handling tin packs andthe primary object of the present invention is to provide a mechanismfor conveying the tin packs from the heating furnace to the roll thusdispensing with the manual labor heretofore utilized for such purposes.

A still further object of the invention is to rovide a conveyormechanism for disposition between the furnace and the roller 'millwhereby the tin ack will be transferred directly from the conveyor inthe furnace on to the conveyor mechanism to be conveyed by the latter tothe mill, and-to be transferred directly from the said conveyormechanism to the lower run of roller.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a conveyormechanism for han-. dling tin packs which may be used especially so insuch cases as where the roller mi is may be disposed to one side of thefurnace.

A still further object. of the invention is to provide. a mechanism ofthe above mentioned character which also includes means for maintainingthe edges of the sheet of the respective packs at the fronts and sidesof the packs in true flush relationship whereby the edge of no one sheetof the pack will project beyond a corresponding edge of a second sheetof the pack.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentduring a study of the following description, taken in connection withthe accompanying drawings wherein: Y Y a Figure 1 is a top plan view ofthe improved mechanism,

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view 0 taken substantially on theline 2 2 of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a similar view taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Figure1,

Figure 4 is a longitudinal vertical see- I tional view takensubstantially on the line 4-4 of Figure 1, Figure 5 is a fragmentarydetail sectional view taken substantially on the line 5-5 of Figure 1,to Y Figure. 6 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially on theline 66 of Figure 1, v

Figure 7 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view takensubstantially on the line 7-7 of Figure 1,

Figure 8 is a detail perspective view illustrating certain elements ofthe invention, alrlrd showing the same in separated relations p,

Figure 9 is a detail sectional view taken 6 substantially on the line9-9 of Figure 1.

Withreference more in detail to the drawings, it will be seenthat thereference char-. acter C designates the forward end ortion of a conveyorarranged within the eating furnace (not shown) and from which conveyorthe tin packs are to be transferred on to my improved mechanism.

-For supporting the forward end of the furnace conveyor C there isprovided a pair of longitudinally spaced standards 5 and 6, and betweeneach of the pairs of standards a horizontal shaft 7 and 8 extend.

My improved conveyor or tin pack end mechanism comprises a pair ofspaced parallel endless conveyor chains 9 that at one end of theconveyor are trained over suitable sprockets provided therefor for theshaft 8, and at the opposite-end'of the conveyor are trained oversuitable sprockets 10 provided so therefor on a horizontal shaft 11supported in a pair-of spaced standards 12 arranged remote from thefurnace and adjacent the roller mill designted enerally by the reference.character M. be chains 9 are provided with tin pack engaging lugs 13',and the lugs 13 arearranged in airs for en gaging the rear end of thepac for moving the same with the conveyor chain and retaining the edgesof the plates of the respectivepacksflush.

Adjacent one end of the conveyor chains 9 there are mounted a pluralityof pairs of horizontally disposed allned shafts 14 and 15. The outerendsof the shafts 14 and 15 are mounted in standards 16 and 17 respectivelyand the inner ends of the shafts 14 and 15 are mounted in standards 18and 19 respectively. On the inner ends of shafts 14 and 15 are collars20 and 21 and on the beveled gears 22 and 23. The shafts 14and 15 areoppositely threaded, and have threadedly enouter end of the shafts'aregaged therewith blocks'24 and 25 that have their lower end portionsoperable in cha'n-.

nel guide members 26 and27 whereby to re tain the members 24 and 25against rotation but to permit of movement of the blocks 24 and 25longitudinal movement relative to their" shafts 14 and 15, i v

Each of the guide blocks 24 and 25 are provided on opposite sidesthereof with lateral shoulders 28 which cooperate with inwardly directedflanges 29 formed on the upper edge of the sides of the channel guides26, 27 for retaining the guide blocks in their channel guides.

Arranged adjacent the forward endof the conveyor chains 9, or adjacentthat end of the conveyor chains remote from the heating furnace is apair of longitudinally alined oppositely threaded shafts 30 and 31respectively provided on their outer ends with bevel gears 32, 33, whileon the inner end of the shaft 31. is a' clutch member 34 provided withradial recesses or grooves for receiving radial tongues on acomplemental clutch member 35 provided on the inner end of the shaft 30.The clutch member 35 is fixed to the shaft 30 while the clutch member34' is slidably keyed to the shaft 314to any suitable means for movementinto and out of engagement with the fixed clutch memchannel guidemembers 39 and 40.

are suitably supported in standards 41, 42

and their inner ends supported in' standards 43 and 44. I

It is to benoted, that the shafts 14, 15, 30 and 31 extend between theupper and lower runs of the chains 9 and at right an les to the chains.

he upper'ends of the guide blocks 24 c and 37 have suitably securedthereto and supported thereon an elongated channel bar, 45 while theupper end of the guide blocks 25 and guide block 38'have suitablysecured thereto and support a like channel bar.46.-

The channel bars 45 and 46 have each arranged therein and extending forthe full' length. thereof a .guide strip 47, 48, and the upper portionsof the strips 47, 48 extend above the upper runs of the conveyor chains9 and are adapted to contact the side edges of the packs carried by thechain for retaining the edges of the plates of the respective packs-insuitable vertical alinement same time to be moved relative to oneanother for accommodatlng packs of various widths and for positioningthe packs on the chains laterally with respect to the chains as will behereinafter more fully apparent.

Each of the standards 16 is provided with a laterally extending bearingbracket ,49, and the standard 41 is equipped with lateral bearingbrackets 50. Supported in the bear-' ing brackets 49'and in the bracket50 is a horizontally disposed-longitudinallyextending shaft 51 that isequipped with a pair of beveled gears 52 for mesh .with the gears22,'together with a single bevel gear 53 for mesh with the bevel gear 32on the shaft 30. That endof the shaft 5l adjacent the bracket50 isprovided with a suitable hand wheel 54 for manually rotating the shaft.

Likewise each of the standards 17, isv

equipped with a laterally bracket 55 and the standard 42 with a'jlikebearing bracket 56. Rotatably mounted in the bearing bracket 55 andbracket 56 is a shaft 57 provided with a pair of-beveled gears 58 formesh with the beveled gears 23, together with the beveled gear 59 formesh with the beveled gear 33. The shaft 57 at that end thereof remotefrom the gear 59 is equipped with a suitable hand Wheel 60 for manuallyrotating the shaft.

From the. foregoing then it will be seen that when the clutch members 34and 35 are engaged, and either shaft 51 or 57 manually rotated, theshafts 14 and 15, together with the shafts 30 and 31 will be rotatedsimultaneously for simultaneously moving the channel bars 45 and 46inwardly-toward one another or outwardly away from one another foraccommodating the various Widths of packs that may be conveyed on thechain extending bearing 9. When the clutch members 34 and 35 are out ofengagement, it will therefore be seen that by rotating shaft 51 thechannel bar 45 may be moved toward or away from the channel bar 46, thelatter remaining stationary, while con'versely upon rotation of shaft 57the channel bar 46 may be-moved inwardly or outwardly toward and awayfrom the channel bar 45, the latter in this instance remainingstationary. In this manner, it will be seen that the guide members 47and 48,may be so positioned relative to one another as not only toaccommodate various width packs, but may also be positioned relative toone, another for so accommodating the packs even though the packs -mayextend or project at one side thereof farther beyond 0r laterally of theadjacent chain 9 than the packs at theirv opposite sides project beyondthe other of the chains 9. The referred to movement'of the channel bars45 and 46 is of course transmitted to said channel bars from the shaft75 mounted in standards 76.

spaced flipper shafts 14 and 30 and the shafts 15 and 31, through themedium of the guide blocks.

For the clutch member 34 there is provided an operating lever 61 thathas a laterally directed forked end portion '62 for engaging an annulargroove provided therefor in the clutch member 34. The outer 'free end ofthe lever 61 is slidably supported in any suitable bracket 63 providedtherefor. The conveyor chains 9 are operated from a suitable electricmotor E that includes a drive shaft 64 provided adjacent its outer endwith a bevel gear 65 for mesh with the bevel gear 66 on one end of shaft11.

Arranged transversely of the chains 9 at the forward ends of the chain,and adjacent the roller mill M is a pair of spaced chains 67 that arealso equi ped with ack contacting ugs '68, the atter also eing arrangedin pairs. The chains 67 are trained over suitable sprockets 69 and 70mounted on transverse shafts 71 and 72. The shaft 71 is supported in apairof suitable standards 73, and the shaft 72 is mounted in suitablestandards74.

For use in conjunction with the conveyor chains 67 there is provided asuitable flip per mechanism which includes a flip fier e shaft 75 isprovided with a plurality of members or arms 77 arranged one adjacenteach of the chains 67 and the arms 77 are normally disposed in a horizontal position whereby the tin packs on the chains 68 may normally passthereover.

The shaft 75 is equipped with a crank arm 78. An eccentric 79 isprovided on the shaft 71 and includes an arm 80 pivotally connected atits free end as at 81 to the free end of the crank arm 7 8. Apparentlytherefore when the shaft 71 is rotated, the shaft 75 will be alsorotated and the flipper arm 77. raised froma horizontal position to a 1vertical position suggested by dotted lines in Figure 6 whereby the packmay be flipped from the conveyor chains 67 on to the table T to betransferred from the tables T on to the roll of the mill M as Wlll beapparent from the study of Figure 1; 1

In order that the chains 9 may be operated simultaneously with thechains 67, or the chains 67 and chains 9 operated independ- 'ently withrespect to one another, the shaft 71 is operatively connected with theshaft 64 of the motor E through the medium of a suitable clutchmechanism 82 that may be manually controlled through the medium of apivotally mounted lever 83.

In' order that the flipper mechanism may be operated independently of,or simultaneously with the operation of the chains 67, the shaft 71 atsaid end may be engaged or disengaged from a shaft 84 through the mediumof a clutch 85 controlled through the medium of a suitable handle 86that is pivotally mounted for rotation on a horizontal' plane.

In this connection, it will be noted that the shaft 84 is suitablymounted in a hearing standard 87 and that one of the members of theclutch 85 is integral with the eccentric 79 that is loose on the shaft71 while obviously the remaining of the clutch members 85 is suitablykeyed to the end 84 of the shaft 71.

In order to maintain the forward edges of the plates of the respectivepacks flush with one another, as the packs are conveyed by the conveyorchains 9 there is provided a member 86 that extends upwardly between thechains 9 and at its lower end is suitably and pivotally mounted as at 87to a base 88, the upper end of the member 86 is adapted to normallyproject upwardly beyond the upper run of the chains 9 to contact theforward edges of the plate of each tin pack successively and in thismanner maintaining the forward edges of the-plates of the respectivepacks flush and even with one another. For normally retaining the member86in a vertical position, there is provided a bolt 89 that has an eyeconnection 90 with an intermediate portion of the member 86. The bolt 89extends horizontally through a suitable opening provided therefor in theupper end of a bracket member 91 rising from the base 38.

Convoluted about the bolt 89 is a coil spring 92, and one end of thecoil spring bears against the sprocket 89 and the opposite end of thecoil spring bears against a nut 93 threadedly engaged with the free endof the bolt. Obviously,'as the forward edgesof the pack,contact with theupper end of the member 86, the forward edges of the plate of therespective packs are alined,

and as the pack continues onwardly the member 86 is rotated about itspivot to assume the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 4 to againbring into vertical position'under action of spring 92 when the packdiscontacted has moved farther along,

so that the member 86 at its u per end 15 again in position to contactthe orward end 0 the next succeeding pack.

In actual practice, it is intended that the improved tin pack handlingmechanism be arranged between the furnace as shown and the rollermilland as is apparent from a medium of the members 47 and 48 the platesinvention, it is to be understood that the same is susceptible tochanges fully comprehended by the spirit of the invention, and the scopeof the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I I. claim as new is:

1.-A tin pack handling mechanism forv conveying tin packs from a furnaceto' a roller m1ll and compnsmg an endless. confveyor extending forwardlyfrom the furnace, a second conveyor arranged transversely of the firstmentioned conveyor at the forward end of the first mentioned con veyorand adjacent the mill, each of said conveyors comprising a pair ofspaced parallel chains, pack contacting lugs on the chains of therespective conveyors, said lugs being arranged in pairs, a normallyvertically disposed spring actuated member mounted between the chains ofthe first mentioned conveyor and adapted to contact the forward ed es ofthe respective packs for reta ning t e plate of the respective packs attheir forward ends flush with one anothe'rr 2. Atin pack handlingmechanism for conveying tin packs from a furnace to a roller mill andcomprising an endless con,-

veyor extending forwardly from the furnace, a second conveyor arrangedtransversely of the first mentioned conveyor at the forward end of thefirst mentioned conveyor and adjacent the mill, each of said conveyorscomprising a paimof spaced par-- allel chains, pack contacting lugs onthe chains of the respective conveyors, said lugs being arranged inpairs, a normally vertically disposed spring actuated member mountedbetween the chains of the first mentioned conveyor and adapted tocontact the forward edges of the respective packs for retaining theplate of the respective packs at their forward ends flush with oneanother, manually controlled means extending longitudinally of the firstmentioned conveyor for contacting the sides of the packs to retain theedges of the plates of the respective packs flush with one another andfor positioning the packs relative to the conveyor.

3. A tin pack,v handling mechanism fori conveying tin packs from afurnaceto a roller mill and comprising an endless conveyor extendingforwardly from the furnace, a second conveyor arranged transversely ofthe first mentioned conveyor atthe forward end of the first mentionedconveyor and adjacent the mill, each of said conveyors comprising a pairof spaced parallel chains,

respective conveyors, said lugs being arranged in pairs, a normallyvertically disposed spring actuated mem er mounted between the chains ofthe first mentioned conveyor and adapted to contact the forward edges ofthe, respective packs for retaining the plate of the respective packs attheir forward ends flush with one another, manually controlled meansextending longitudinally of the first mentioned conveyor for contact ingthe sides of the packs to retain the edges of the plates of therespective packs flush with one another and for positioning the packsrelative to the conveyor, and a flipper mechanism positioned at theadjacent ends of said conveyors for transferring the pack from thesecond mentioned conveyor on to the table of the mill. 4

4. A tin pack handling mechanism for conveying tin packs from a furnaceto a roller mill and comprising an endless conveyor extending forwardlyfrom the furnace, a second conveyor arranged transversely of the firstmentioned conveyor at the forward end of the first mentioned conveyorand adjacent the mill, each of the conveyors comprising'a pair of spacedparallel chains, pack contacting lugs on the chains of the respectiveconveyors, said lugs being arranged in pairs, a normally verticallydisposed spring actuated member mounted between the chains of the firstmentioned conveyor and adapted to contact the forward edges of therespective-packs for retaining the plate of the respective packs attheir forward ends flush with one another, manually controlled meansextending longitudinally of the first mentioned conveyor for contactingthe sides of the packs to retainthe edges of the plates of therespective packs flush with one another and for positioning the packsrelative to the conveyor, and a flipper mechanism positioned at theadjacent ends of said conveyors for transferring the'pack from thesecond mentioned conveyor on to the table of the mill, operatingmechanism common to both of said conveyors and said flipper mechanism,and including a plurality of clutches whereby said conveyors and saidflipper mechanism may be actuated simultaneously or independentlyrelative to one another.

5. A tin pack handling mechanism for conveying tin packs from a furnaceto a roller mill, comprising a conveyor leading from the furnace, asecond conveyor leading from the first conveyor to the roller mill, aflipper mechanism operatively positioned with respect to the secondconveyor for transferring the packs from the second mentioned conveyoron to the table of the mill, means extending for substantially the fulllength of the first mentioned conveyor and movable laterally relativethereto for positioning the packs on the first mentioned conveyor andfor retaining the plates of the respective packs flush with one another,and a member arranged in the path of movement of the packs on the firstmentioned conveyor and yieldably engageable with the forward edges ofthe respective packs for retaining the plates of the respective packs attheir forward edges flush with one another and control means for theconveyors and said flipper mechanism.

6. A tin pack handling mechanism including in combination an endlessconveyor, pack positioning and plate alining means on opposite sides ofthe conveyor for substantially the full length of the conveyor andshiftable relative to one another and to the conveyor for positioningthe packs on the conveyor and retaining the plates of the respectivepacks flush one with the other, and a pivotally mounted pack platealining member arranged in the path of movement of the packs and adaptedto be engaged by the successive packs.

In testimony whereof I aflix my si nature.

JOHN WILLIAM PEimY.

